Board of Directors

Jennifer Sconyers is the President & Founder of Abundance Leadership Consulting, a training organization that focuses on culture shift, diversity, and inclusion in the modern workplace. Based in Columbus, OH, Ms. Sconyers brings nearly 20 years of leadership experience to her work with her extensive background working with teams in advertising, television, marketing, and politics. It was in these high pressure, results-driven environments that she learned what it takes to create a high-performing team and make it thrive in a short period of time. Ms. Sconyers has had the privilege of working with teams in national and statewide non-profits such as the A.C.L.U. and Wellstone Action in addition to working with such for-profit companies as Fox and Lee Wayne Corporation. Her expertise in this field is a vehicle for teams and individuals to make a significant impact in their organization and their community. Ms. Sconyers earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Communications & Political Science from the University of Illinois Springfield. She currently volunteers as an Executive Committee Board Member at the Ohio Environmental Council.

Alex Slaymaker helps organizations, communities, and businesses innovate sustainably. She has over 10 years of experience collaborating with the public, private, academic, and non-profit sectors to envision, design, and deploy sustainability initiatives. Currently, she helps electric utilities successfully scale transportation electrification through her work at a software start-up called WeaveGrid which focuses on advanced EV charging optimization solutions. Previously she was a project manager at Black & Veatch working with electric utilities on strategy, regulatory, and change management support for EV related programs. Prior to this role, she led transportation electrification and sustainability initiatives for Smart Columbus, the smart cities initiative for Central Ohio and sole winner of the USDOT $50M Smart Cities Challenge. She earned her Bachelors in Environmental Planning and Policy from Ohio University and a Masters in Sustainable Solutions from Arizona State University. In her spare time, she enjoys exploring cities and parks across the world, listening to live music, and learning new things.

Sam earned a B.S. in Environmental Studies and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Cincinnati. Prior to that he grew up on his family’s specialty crop farm in Northern Ohio where he still plays an active role as a managing partner. In his professional career, Sam works for Pacejet an enterprise multi-carrier shipping software. He is also the owner of Hetuck Homes, a real estate investment company. In his spare time, Sam is a state record holding powerlifter and enjoys riding his motorcycle around Ohio.

Jeniece L. Brock, a public health and policy leader, is committed to advancing structural equity and health justice. As a DrPH candidate at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a Student Affiliate at the Harvard FXB Center for Health & Human Rights, she specializes in political epidemiology and the political determinants of health. Her research focuses on how political structures influence health outcomes and disparities, particularly in Black and underserved communities. Brock aims to transform policies and systems to achieve equitable and just health outcomes. As the Senior Policy & Advocacy Director, Jeniece founded Ohio’s inaugural citizen-led redistricting commission, actively engaging stakeholders and championing transparency, equity, and fair representation. She collaborated with the Brennan Center for Justice to bolster democracy initiatives and advance voting rights. Additionally, Jeniece oversaw Ohio’s largest voting rights coalition, effectively mobilizing resources and communities to transform legislative maps and enhance civic engagement. Her leadership resulted in the historic election of the first woman to represent Ohio’s 13th Congressional District. Through strategic planning, effective execution, and fundraising, she secured the victory. In public health and community organizations, she prioritized addressing social and environmental factors that influence health, designing prevention programs, expanding access, and advocating for marginalized communities. Jeniece’s dedication to service and equity extends beyond her political career, as she has held leadership positions in board organizations such as the Ohio Environmental Council, the Canary Candidate Program, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. The 2024 Brennan Center for Justice Legacy Award further recognized her commitment to justice and equity, which honored her for her transformative leadership in building healthier, more inclusive systems and amplifying community voices for positive public health change.

Rich has been active in management and administration of environmental programs and development of regulatory policy for the past 40 years. He has been employed within state government, private corporations, consulting and a non-profit conservation organization. Through it all, he has been with the OEC and has developed an appreciation for the organization’s ability to influence environmental policy in Ohio. As the Board President, Rich is committed to seeing the organization reach its full potential.

Marianne has worked with organizations dedicated to sustainable development for over a decade. These include the Urban Land Institute, where she is currently the Director of Resilience, the Alliance for Sustainable Colorado, Greater Ohio Policy Center, GreenCityBlueLake Institute, and BrownFlynn, a corporate sustainability consulting firm. She also serves on the boards of the Sears-Swetland Foundation and the Swetland Center for Environmental Health, both of which focus on the link between health and our environments, as well as the American Rivers Southwest River Council. She has a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies from Dartmouth College and master’s degrees in city and regional planning and in public administration from The Ohio State University.

Daniel M. Gray serves as Director of Regional Strategies for Citizens Utility Board, a nationally recognized pro-clean energy consumer advocacy non-profit. In that role, he manages the Consumer Advocacy HUB for CUB’s Consumer Education and Research Fund, leading the strategic development of HUB, managing the budget, and building and maintaining relationships with HUB partners and funders. Prior to joining CUB, Mr. Gray co-founded and served as COO of EmpowerSaves a digitally-driven energy efficiency marketing and sales company and helped lead a team that grew the company to over $1,000,000 in sales. In addition, he ran and consulted on over two dozen grassroots political campaigns including working at the Democratic National Committee. Mr. Gray is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University and received his MBA from The Ohio State University.

Rebecca Karason serves as the Director of Sustainability & Strategy at Energi.ai, where she plays a pivotal role in assisting clients with their data requirements to support the achievement of their environmental sustainability objectives. With over fifteen years of specialized experience in decarbonization strategies and initiatives, Rebecca is recognized as an expert in the field, possessing a comprehensive background encompassing sales, account management, program outreach, and project management. Before her tenure at Energi.ai, she was Senior Vice President of Environmental Strategy & Sustainability Director at Huntington National Bank. Additionally, Rebecca has contributed to American Electric Power in various capacities, including serving as the Program Manager for their Business Incentive Program. Throughout her professional journey, she has collaborated closely with clients to design and implement effective decarbonization strategies focused on minimizing carbon footprints. Rebecca holds a master’s degree from the University of Cincinnati and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is also a certified energy manager and actively participates on the boards of the Epilepsy Foundation of Ohio, Equitas Health, the Ohio Capital City Chapter of the Association of Energy Engineers, and the Ohio Environmental Council.

Since 2012, Ben has served as mayor of the City of Bexley. In this role, Mayor Kessler has championed sustainability initiatives, including a bike rental program, a single-use plastic bag ban, and investments in electric vehicle infrastructure. Next, Mayor Kessler plans to expand the city’s recycling program, including the creation of a community drop-off point for recyclables not accepted by central Ohio processors. For his dedication to environmental initiatives, Mayor Kessler has been recognized by various civic organizations, including the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Boy Scouts of America, and the Mid Ohio Regional Planning Commission.

Jeremy Faust is Vice President and Director of Environmental Sustainability at Fifth Third Bank. He is responsible for elevating the reputation of the Bank through leadership of environmental sustainability and for climate strategy oversight. Mr. Faust is part of Fifth Third’s Sustainable Finance and Climate Strategy Council, Climate Risk Council, and Sustainability Disclosure Council; he also co-chairs Fifth Third’s Enterprise Sustainability Business Resource Group, which includes over 1,200 employee members. Prior to joining Fifth Third, Mr. Faust worked with the Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance and as Director of Legislative Affairs for the Council of the District of Columbia. He helped lead the creation of Solarize Cincinnati, Energize Kentucky, and the Cincinnati 2030 District. He currently serves as Chair of the City of Cincinnati Energy Special Improvement District (PACE District) and Secretary with the Green Umbrella Regional Climate Collaborative. Mr. Faust holds a J.D. from the George Washington University School of Law.

Tanner has over 15 years of experience in the non-profit environmental space at various levels of management and programming. He is the founding Co-Executive Director of Groundwork Ohio River Valley with Groundwork USA focusing on partnering with the National Park Service to promote community outreach, climate justice, education and green jobs. In that capacity he created one of the nation’s largest Youth Green Workforce programs (150 youth employees). Other affiliations include Groundwork Cincinnati – Mill Creek, Adventure Crew, Green Umbrella and Ohio River Paddlefest. He was also a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand. He has BS in Environmental Science and a MS in Community Planning. He has received numerous awards and recognition for his leadership in advocacy, outdoor recreation and conservation rooted in practice with community partners.

Lola is an expert in Urban Forestry. She had a distinguished and award-winning career as a Regional Urban Forester at the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry, where she provided organizational and technical assistance to a 13 county area. Her job focused on helping elected officials, staff and volunteers better understand the importance of trees in their communities. She hosted conferences and workshops and led numerous local initiatives such as the response to the emerald ash borer threat and her work as a member of the Ohio Urban Forest Strike Team. In all of her work she involved communities in visioning and planning and achieved buy-in and sustainable solutions by assuring that everyone had a seat at the table. She feels this approach is transferable to OEC’s work. Since her retirement from ODNR she has advised the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation’s TreeCorp program. She holds degrees at the Bachelor’s and Master’s levels in Agricultural and Forest Science, Project and Technology Management and Public Administration. She is a dedicated lifelong learner and believes one is neither to old or too young to learn.

An attorney-at-law who has served as in-house counsel for the City of Shaker Heights since 2002, and as Director of Law since 2012. He previously served as an attorney for the City of Cleveland for 16 years, including as Chief of the Environment, Health and Regulatory Compliance Section. Bill has also served as legal counsel to a variety of non-profit organizations such as the Ohio Environmental Council, AARP, Edgemont Neighborhood Coalition (Dayton, Ohio), and Citizen Power, Inc., in utility and energy matters before the PUCO, U.S. Department of Energy and Federal Communications Commission (FCC). He has helped several cities form electric or natural gas aggregation programs. He also has served in extensive grassroots organizing and leadership roles with non-profit neighborhood, environmental and waterfront planning organizations. For the past 16 years he has volunteered with the grassroots Dike 14 Nature Preserve Committee in Cleveland. Previously he served as a member of the Cleveland Industrial Air Pollution Advisory Committee and the Neighborhood Environmental Coalition, as a board member of the non-profit Cleveland Recycling Center, Inc., and as an Executive Committee member of both the Ohio and Northeast Ohio Group of the Sierra Club. He was also a prior member of the Task Force for Lake Erie Coastal Zone Management sponsored by the Ohio Coastal Resource Management Project.

Andrew is President and Founder of Blue CSR Strategies, a corporate responsibility consulting firm located in Cleveland, Ohio. Andrew is an experienced sustainability and corporate responsibility practitioner who leverages his expertise in corporate responsibility and organizational development to guide organizations toward creating a positive impact on society, people, and the planet, while creating positive financial returns. Previously Andrew served as Sustainable Value VP at GOJO Industries, Senior Vice President and Head of Sustainability for KeyBank, Senior Consultant at BrownFlynn, and the First Chief of Sustainability for the City of Cleveland.

Ellen Greene Bush grew up in Huron, Ohio, and spent summer afternoons at the neighborhood beach on Lake Erie. She has spent most of her adult life in a cottage on Catawba Island at the lake. These experiences, in a clean and healthy lake and later, near a lake contaminated with pollutants, have led her to value this wonderful natural resource and to help restore Lake Erie to pristine conditions. Professionally, Ellen has a BSN from Capital University, an MS in nursing from The Ohio State University, and a PhD in clinical psychology from Bowling Green State University. She has worked as a staff nurse, a teacher of nursing, and a psychologist in a group practice. Ellen also has a strong interest in democracy issues. She is an advocate of abolishing gerrymandering in Ohio, promoting access to voting for all citizens, and getting big and dark money out of elections and governance. In her free time, Ellen is an avid reader. She likes to knit, especially for her grandchildren who actually will wear her knitted items. She enjoys traveling, gardening, cooking, and being outside in nature. She often visits Columbus and Pittsburgh, where her two daughters live with their families.